Edited by author 12-03-2005 08:41 AM
excellent idea! feel free to update the dorkbotsf-blabber list with developments on the open source cube front!

Thanks to all those that came to the last Dorkbots presentation. It was great crowd - thanks for treating me gently. Thanks too to Karen who had been trying to get me up on that stage for over a year now. Not only did it help me gather my thoughts and make connections between projects it also re-gathered a number of friends I hadn't seen in as long while.

I've had several interesting mails since- including one from Richard Greene at Moto who explained the phenomena of blue light / green light seen in the cube was called the Tyndall effect and was discovered in 1859 ! - apparently its the same reason the sky is blue - thanks Richard - there's a background to this phenomena I never knew was there.

Several people have been emailing me with their own ideas about what they would like to see inside the cube. It is meant to be a new form of visual medium and I had been thinking about ways in which I could open up it's 'author-ability'.

So here's my idea, which includes an open request to the dorkbot community, based partly on the fact that it requires a skill set I don't yet have (Java coding). I'd like someone to help me create a small application that allows other folks to draw their own ideas into the cube. Think of it as turning the Reactive Cube into an 'open sourced physically interactive artwork'. People would submit their working prototype to a website (this could be seen as a two dimensional animation - possibly previewed in simulated 3D) and at a future dorkbot play their concept through the cube - extruding their animation into the cube itself . We could film some of the finished works and then publish those online at a later date.

One question would be how to create input - or interactivity - and have potential authors test that online before submitting an idea. Sound is pretty easy as most people have a microphone built into their computer. Another idea would be to use a camera, as I did in the piece that draws a line around the edge of a persons hand in real-time. It's not inconceivable that folk could prototype their ideas at home using a web cam (It's probably a better idea to start with the input devices I already have and know will work).

So, if you're interested, please drop me a line - either to this list or to my email : contact@grahamplumb.com. I'd like this to be a collaboration that leads to the ideal end state of this particular exhibit - it was always intended as a canvas for new forms of expression. The more open that can be, the better. Putting a prototyping tool online seems to be a good way of going about it.

Have a think about what it would take to make this happen. What kind of programming language would you use ? How would you connect the application to external devices? What other devices could somebody use? What level of programming would the author need to engage in ? Maybe there's a way of reviewing your efforts on line before plugging the code into the actual cube? Also, what other questions or ideas do you have ?

Most importantly this would be a collaboration - I've worked with a number of different folks in London on this and they, like myself, have published this work under their own names - but with credit placed where credit is due. Have a think about what could be involved and if you really have the time to make a commitment - you don't have to just yet, just be prepared to make that decision in the not too distant future. I've done a lot of the ground work but it needs somebody to help me take it that bit further. The fun part is not knowing where that could eventually be.

Graham

This presentation will begin with an acrylic cube filled with water and light, reactive to sound, gesture and the breath of someone from the audience. We will then move on to bags of water filled with electricity, a map of the world made from sun burnt skin peeled from the artists backside, walls built from reactive bricks of light and a Museum in Hawaii containing a three story volcano designed to erupt over Oahu at the push of a button.

Graham promises a varied line up of projects, diverse in their intent and origins but connected by a fascination with the wonderful phenomenon of light. He will demonstrate how light can be transformed into an object, used to dissolve walls into windows, or be diffused just enough to support uncertain scientific theories.

Graham is a media artist and museum exhibit designer originally from the UK and now living in San Francisco. He designs physically interactive experiences for museums and galleries. His talk will present a selection of work completed in the past 10 years - from free flowing experimental personal research projects to carefully planned visitor experiences for Museums throughout Europe and North America. This will include a premiere of the most recent project to date - the new 'Science Learning Center' for the Bishop Museum in Hawaii.